Matt James and Rachael Kirckconnell have had a tumultuous relationship ever since Matt gave her his final rose on The Bachelor.
Even though they broke up ahead of the After the Final Rose special hosted by Emmanuel Acho, Matt and Rachael committed to giving their relationship another go.
At first, the pair seemed to be on-and-off which sent a confusing message to viewers about their relationship.
However, Matt revealed on the Pomp podcast that Rachael gave him the push he needed to commit giving their relationship an honest shot.
Matt shared that she gave him an “ultimatum.”
“She was like, ‘If you’re going to make this work, let’s do it. But, if you’re not going to make it work, I’m going to let you do your own thing,'” he said on the podcast.
“That’s really all I needed. It was an ultimatum that I needed,” he continued. “It’s been great. It was honestly a commitment that we made to each other that we were going to work on the relationship.”
It seems that Matt may have feared that he was truly going to lose Rachael if he hadn’t made that commitment.
Matt wasn’t fully committed to fixing the relationship prior to Rachael’s ultimatum
Matt admitted that for a while, Rachael was evidently putting more effort into fixing their relationship.
“There came a point in time where it was evident that my working on the relationship looked different than Rachael’s because I wasn’t really honoring that commitment that I made to working on the relationship,” Matt admitted.
The Bachelor fans picked up on that long before his admission.
As it was, Rachael was pleading with Matt to forgive her during the After the Final Rose finale special.
They broke up after it was learned that Rachael attended a frat party while wearing Antebellum-style attire.
At the time, Matt said she needed educate herself and in dating her, he felt like he’d be taking on that role.
Even when they first attempted to rekindle their relationship, Matt was caught talking to an ex.
This is one of the moments that prompted them to call their attempt at reviving their relationship off briefly.
“There were rough patches in our relationship [and] we actually broke up for a moment. We’re back together [now],” James shared on the Pomp podcast Tuesday. “Everything we’ve been through, everything she’s been through, she’s stuck right by my side. She’s continued to have a positive attitude. It’s one of the many things I love about her.”
Additionally, Matt was very hesitant to speak out on how things were going with Rachael.
These seemingly prompted the ultimatum from Rachael that caused Matt to commit to working on their relationship.
How Matt and Rachael’s relationship has been going since the ultimatum
Since the ultimatum, the pair have been spending plenty of time together.
They were recently spotted having fun in the sun together in Miami.
On Matt’s first social media post with Rachael, they pose with the kids that they’re helping through Matt’s organization.
For now, it seems that Matt and Rachael are thriving.